I just got one and it’s the best decision I ever made. They’re reliable, luxurious, and underpriced to hell. Buy one please. I wanna see more on the roads.
The 413 wedge motor in the imperial was a beast of an engine. That motor and the tourqueflite transmission, push button, we're bulletproof. The 64 imperial was my first car. I loved it. After that I loved the big land yacht's. Bought a 73' olds 98 after that with the 455 motor. The imperial was the better car
True...1964 was essentially the final year for the 1959 Cadillac styling series...Caddy was all new for 1965. I'm a GM guy, but if I was around back then and saw this video, I'd probably have bought the Imperial.
Haha...I tried that once in the back seat of my '66 Chrysler 300 convertible...but she said I was "gettin' fresh" and gave me one of her usual judo body flips!
I thought I was the only boomer to remember that article...I was 14 at the time and was fascinated by it. It was a seminal article that punched serious holes in the Rolls mystique at the time. '65 was a good year for Cadillac, and their redesign helped them win the comparo. I always felt bad for Chrysler...they never got the credit for their bomb-proof engineering. Showing my years: I equally rotate three daily drivers, all showroom perfect at all times: '88 420SEL Benz, 2001 and 2002 Jaguar Vanden Plas sedans. I have great mechanics that keep them running perfectly without destroying my bank account. New cars today have zero character. I'm constantly complemented on my rides. Thanks so much for a quick trip back to my youth Mr. Texas. God Bless!
The Imperial was a better engineered car. it's frame was so strong they were barred from the demolition derby! Styling was always unique and elegant. Imperial was for the man who didn't want the status quo Caddy
...didn't know that about the Demo Derby. I do remember the early Audi models were banned from some off road races because they had an unfair advantage w/ AWD.
They were banned from demolition derbies (64-66) because of the reinforced frames. They were tanks on wheels and could cut through other cars and kill drivers, plus, you couldn't damage them in return.
JFK is credited with starting the trend of men not wearing a hat with a suit. By the early 1970s, only elderly men were wearing hats when dressed up, like my grandfather who was born in 1901.
I remember when I was only 9 years old, a young boy growing up with a deep healthy love for American cars,trucks, motorcycles and most everything else. I remember my Dad coming home in Sept 63, with a brand new beautiful gold Lincoln 4dr. That was big and roomy with lots of chrome. But I also remember Dad having a lot of trouble with that car, three times he was forced to take Moms car to work and have the Lincoln towed back to the dealer, the third time it never came back! But Dad brought me with him to pick up a new car! An amazing 1964, Imperial Crown Coupe! In metallic aqua, with black top that had different type of vinyl than I’ve ever seen and the softest black leather bucket seats in front and huge back seat, that seemed bigger than the Lincoln? I remember there was enough room for me to lay down across the shelf under the rear window over the seats! But not in the Lincoln. That was Fads pride and joy, other than his growing family! I had a second sibling born the following year, but when Mom told Dad she was “expecting “ again, he was forced to trade his beloved Imperial in on a new 9 passenger wagon! Not just any wagon was gonna replace that Imperial! NO! dad special ordered a 1968 Chrysler Town&Country Beach Wagon! That I remember was loaded, very big, powerful with a 440/4 brl Dual Exhaust! That was gorgeous! In met maroon in an out with leather and “wood grained Siding”, lots of chrome! That was the car I learned to drive in and later on I live was my daily driver, as Dad kept that wagon for all 6 or us to learn how to drive! To this day I love big American vehicles! Especially pickups! New cars do nothing for me!
as a young teenager, my grandmother had a 63 imperial crown, fabulous car. we had a 64 CADILLAC 4 door hard top. I loved both cars, and would love to have either one of them today!!
The 64 Imperial was a vast styling improvement over the 63 model. Caddy was still hanging on to dated fins. However, it was the 1961 Lincoln that set the new, cleaner trend in styling. Soon GM would abandon the inferior X-frame.
I used to build alot of models when i was a kid like the Munster Coach and Coffin Dragster. Among them was this Imperial. I have no idea why this car appealed to me as a 7 year old kid but i'll never forget it.
Luckily Imperials are the least expensive of the three. You can get a decent driver for less than or around 10K. I’m thinking of getting a couple for myself.
3:55 This was one area the Chrysler Corp. cars used to ALWAYS do better than GM or Ford. Even on the lowest priced Plymouth, you got real GAUGES. This lasted into the 1990s! My GM loving sentiments would be toward Cadillac. And the Lincoln WAS beautiful (but small), But in retrospect, The reality IS that the Imperial WAS the best of the three in 1964.
at 1:15 they mention Imperial's "classic spare tire shape...." in its rear end styling. Guess they couldn't call it the "Continental look," could they?
Of the top 3, Only Imperial was "bespoke". The Lincoln was a mildly stretched Thunderbird, And the Cadillac shared it's body with Buick and Oldsmobile. Imperial's body and Chassis were shared with NO other Chrysler product from 1960-1966. It was a "one-off", built in its own plant. Kind of the American Rolls-Royce. One can say, "it used the old 1957 body..." YEP. But in 1964 The Rolls Royce Silver Cloud was using a 1955 body! "Worse" the Rolls (in Cadillac/Buick fashion) shared it's body with Bentley. Imperial stood ALONE! 😲
On that point, a lot of the demolition derby sactioning body's BANNED Imperials as being so strong and crash resistant,, that they represented an unfair advantage in competition.!!!.......
Cadillac sold about 165,000 cars that year, while Imperial sold 23,000. I don't know why they never could come close to Lincoln's or Caddy's sales numbers.
I think it was brand perception. "Imperial" was never truly established as its own marque...people almost always thought of it as just a Chrysler...which competed with Oldsmobile/Buick at the high end of the "medium priced" field. Back then, the Cadillac or Lincoln names provided more prestige for the money.
That's right. Chrysler Corp was right in creating a luxury division, but they made the mistake of giving it a name that had already been used as a model name in the Chrysler division.
Cadillac built up an unbeatable sales lead in the forties and fifties when Pierce Arrow and other luxury makes were long gone, and Packard Lincoln and Chrysler had given up on the luxury market. They did it through some extremely clever advertising and marketing aimed at making the average Joe (and Jane) think of owning a Cadillac as one of life's greatest achievements. As one Cadillac executive put it "Our advertising is not aimed at selling cars. It is aimed at making Cadillac owners feel proud of their Cadillacs, and they sell the cars". The fact that Cadillac was never the best car on the market had nothing to do with public perception.
Naturally it's a Chrysler film so they will try anything to downplay the Cadillac but the fact is, if you had a new Cadillac in your garage, nobody could ever claim they have something better. Nope.
Cool video. I always like to see the old marketing stuff. Cadillac changed the style the next year. I still like this style better than the Chrysler. The grill never did anything for me. I always like the Cadillac fins too.
Boss,we got an idea, a hemispherical type of combustion chamber design. For better volumetric air breathing with higher compression ratios. Room for bigger valves. Yes I like it boys, green light, work close with the carb and intake dept. and run with it. If all goes as planned, the guys at Ford and G.M. will be playing catch up for years. We'll name her "Hemi".
Up until a couple of years ago, I had a black 1964 Imperial Crown convertible, a red 1964 Lincoln Continental convertible, and a white 1964 Cadillac Eldorado convertible. Hands down, the Imperial was the best of the three followed by the Lincoln. I put all three cars up on side by side hoists. What Chrysler did with that frame, and the number of cross bars welded into it, made it indestructible unlike the uni-body Cadillac and Lincoln. You ride in a Cadillac, you glide in a Lincoln, but you float in an Imperial. Oh, and those organizations that have members whose names end in vowels? The Imperial's trunk was far larger and could hold more bodies.
Extra hat room? Consider me sold Jeeves. But wait, are there cigarette lighters in the rear ashtrays? Don't want my company to feel less than welcome when we pass around a pack of Luckies.
Using sales figures is no recommendation of quality. There are more Toyota Camry's sold than 3 Series BMW's of a similar price, however I know I'd rather have the BMW. Moreover, because the Imperial is a far rarer car these days, it's also far more collectable, and it looks better than a comparable Caddy.
In Australia we never had Imperials. I think the quality in the coachwork was obvious and the suspension far better than Lincoln and Caddy as has been reported by independent sources. The Imperial was innovative and in my opinion was in the market at the height of the Big 3 US car makers. Now we have every car manufacturer in the world selling a product that is within reach of the average motorist therefore the American motor industry is in the situation it is in today and we have President Trump possibly as a result of that. Sadly this had an impact in Australia as well where local manufacturing, Ford and GM ceased this year as well as Toyota. Chrysler ceased local production in 1980. Cars like the Imperial made a big design and engineering statement for around 20 years from the mid fifties. Nowadays we have wind tunnel tested, white Whitegoods cars that basically conform to the same shape, generally quite boring. Will probably not be looked on with such reverence in 40 to 50 years. Like we look on those early American land yachts of the mid-fifties 50s to 1970
obviously your not really a mopar guy . The IMP was twice the car . and when watching a demo derby its really obvious the imperial runs over the top of the caddy no problem .
ted marshall I own a 1988 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham. All Cadillac cars were is nothing more than a glorified Buick. The only Cadillac that had unique styling was the Eldorado. And that ended when the Eldorado started sharing body styles with the Olds Toranodo. Imperial up to 1973 was unique. It never shared any looks with Chrysler. That all changed with the 1974 Chrysler Imperial. Chrysler that year started showing financial trouble and could no longer justify making a car that unique. So the Imperial started sharing body styles with the Chrysler Newport and New Yorker.
@@bradhardy2629 Imperial died in 1974. No wishful thinking on your part can change that fact. And even today, FCA quality is far below GM, which is already really bad.
Once Virgil Exxnes was gone it was all over for Imperial. That 1957 to 63 was the great era...after that they lost their way as a corp until the muscle cars arrived in full in 1968....but thats another story......
Too bad that Chrysler did not see the future of benefit of the Imperial in ensuring demo derby winnings. I'm sure if they did, they would have thrown that in there as well.
I always liked the design of these Engel-designed Imperials. However--it's not true that it's "all new". Not at all. Built on the '57 underbody, it's really noticeable by the height of the dash and the hood; it was tough for shorter drivers and most women.
Cadillac hasn't been known for elegance since the 1940s. It sold post-WWII on sheer excess. Nothing else. The reason why that slogan exists is because people like their cliches.
Cadillac was king of rip off. Still doing the same thing today with the escalade. Nothing more than a gussied up Buick or Chevrolet. Chrysler/ Imperial always had much finer engineering by far.
Maybe so; but the buying public were general UNsophisticated...unable to perceive quality over ordinary.While the engineering and design of the Imperial was superior, they execution of workmanship.. left lots to be desired. When these Imperials became 40 - 50 years old, the water leaks into the body (especially the trunk and rear floor & under rear seat).. will drive an owner nuts. I know----I've had five of 'em.
You know nothing about cars. Cadillac has almost always always engineered and built their own engine designs while Lincolns and Imperials used Ford and Chrysler engines, respectively, although at least in Lincoln's case they were built to the most precise specifications.
With exception to the Cadillac Eldorado up to 1965 all other Cadillac cars were nothing more than a glorified Buick and Oldsmobile. Eldorado lost it's unique look in 1966 when it started sharing body parts with Oldsmobile Toranodo. Imperial up to 1968 was totally and completely unique. Imperial shared no body parts with any car. That all changed in 1969 when Chrysler put all there cars under the fuesalage ( probably didn't spell that right ( design. 1969 Imperial looked like a glorified New Yorker and New Port
The presentation emphasizes that whatever the Cadillac does the Imperial can do better. The idea is to help the dealer sell the Imperial. The more Imperials he sells the more money he and the motor company will make. The Imperial is a large luxury car. Only the upper crust members of the community will buy the Imperial. The Imperial is very expensive. The price was near six thousand dollars. A sale will line the pockets of the seller handsomely.
@@Nunofurdambiznez Prior to the extreme individualism we are seeing now, products were sold on their tangible merits. “If you can find a better car, buy it,” Lee Iacocca chanted. Jingles suggested we could support a brand as an article of faith. Today experience and self affirmation are more important than something quantifiable. “How does the product make me feel?,” consumers now ask.
Of the three American luxury makes for 1964, Imperial was leagues ahead in performance, engineering, and overall styling. In this particular year between the three makes, I honestly do not know how Cadillac survived. Their design philosophy was still tethered to the finned, bloated, 1950's. 1963-64 Cadillacs were just aged, dated designs that looked terrible next to a lean Imperial or Lincoln. And I am an avid Cadillac enthusiast who's owned 6-7 Cadillacs in the past 50 years!
John L yeah but it was mostly a function of the crappy microphones of the day. they had to project thier speech or you wouldnt be able to hear them. Same principles for public speaking even today. 1st rule is speak s l o w l y and clearly
American announcers had these real 'classy' accents back in the '60s, almost British. They spoke with strength and authority, kind of like Cary Grant. "Well! Look at what we have here! A four door sedan for 1961."
This whole promo was dedicated to the jealous people at Chrysler. They built an inferior product trying to measure up to Cadillac. What a joke. Cadillac was killing everyone as the sales leader. Nothing could touch them. Imperial never stood a chance. Good Video to laugh at
High sales numbers doesn't make a quality car. You see many more Honda Civics on the road than BMW M series, but I guarantee you the BMW is more refined with much more careful assembly standards.
This should have been a comparison to Cadillac 60 Special rather than a Sedan deVille. Cadillac probably would have fared better on the roominess measurements, maybe even exceeded Imperial’s in a couple of areas. I thought the statements regarding engineering were appropriate as that was always Chrysler’s strong point. That and their full instrumentation. But where Chrysler lacked (still do) was in the longevity of their electrical components. I say that as the owner of 3 1963 Cadillacs and 1 1973 Cadillac and 10 Chrysler products.
An other and more important question? Why do you compare a simple Cadillac 1964 Seville Model, with a very expensive car as the 64 Imperial Crown Le Baron? For the sake of fairness, the comparison should be between a Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special and the ugly 1964 Imperial car.
The Cadillac In the comparison was a de Ville and the Imperial was a Crown, comparable models. The Imperial le Baron was comparable to the Cadillac Sixty Special. I think that the 1964 Imperial is a very beautiful car.
love this video, love the Chrysler Imperial's of this era, I could never warm up to the Cadillac's of this era (I personally thought Cadillac would get better during the 1965-70 run).
Ironic that in 1964, "Imperial body is designed only for Imperial," unlike the Cadillac's shared body because Imperial shared its own body (plus an extra few inches on its front deck) with the other Chryslers by 1969 (through at least 1971).
Fairfaxcat Imperial had its own body and chassis until 1967. Before 1967, Imperial used a body-on-frame construction. In 1967, Imperial switched to the unit-construction design of all the other Chrysler cars.
I have 2 1965 imperials, one 4-door and one 2-door. Heaviest cars made, thats why im gonna use them for demolition derby's. HAHA. Toughest car ever made. Period!
Rolls Royce and Bentley cars used for many years a Buick V8 engine, with some modifications made by RR. For many years, RR and Bentley paid licenses to General Motors for using the old and very durable Hydramatictic Drive, the very durable Jetaway, and the excellent Turbo Hydramatic 400, which Chrysler's fallacious advertising aims to look at less. Inside GM, they used Hydra Matic box and successors, the cars Cadillac, Oldsmobile and Pontiac. European subsidiaries of GM used it for years, in Opel Kapitân, Admiral and Diplomat; Vauxhal models Cresta and Velox. The best Mercedes Benz models, 300 D and 300 E from 1956 to 60 used Hydramatic (or Borg Warner to choice). Sherman tanks used Cadillac engines and Hydramatic transmission, practically unchanged. Several prestigious American car brands, now missing, used for years the old Hydra Matic and Jetaway (Hudson, even the mighty HornetTwin H from 1951 to 55, Nash in all models, including the powerful Ambassador, Kaiser in his best model, The Manhatan). Outside the little-known, ugly and siutical Facel Vega HK-500 from 1961 with Chrysler Typhon 383 engine and Torque Flight 727 box, has any other American or European vehicle used Chrysler engines or automatic transmissions? Not that I know. If I am in error, please correct me. Who do you think this should be?
This is funny, the guy talks about Cadillac has similar body parts as Buick and other GM cars but later Chrysler will make an Imperial out of the disposable car they call the K car , the K car was a car that they made there cheapest and lowest quality car from and also added crap to and called it an Imperial. The K car was truly disposable.
+MrBreeze The Imperial may have a new styling for 64, but it was riding on the 1957 platform. Besides that would be the last year for that Cadillac style. There would be an all new Cadillac for 1965.
Well since the Imperial no longer exists (like a lot of Chrysler products), I suppose Cadillac wins. Good old Chrysler...always changing things up in an unstable manner in order to introduce something to discontinue three years later. I speak out of frustration because I like Chrysler.
Not surprising, as the guy in charge of Chrysler's styling was hired away from Ford. In other words he did both the Continental and Imperial one after the other.
+azimmey wrong! This Imperial was the Crown model, not the top of the line model. The top line was the LeBaron, which would be comparable to the Fleetwood.
+azimmey Like it would matter? The Mopar 413 was a superior powerplant. The Torqueflite was a vasty, vastly superior transmission and the Torsion bar suspension easily bested Caddy. Looks are subjective, the former were not...
Maybe so; but all the 413s and 440s that I owned... became "oil-burners" after 125,000 miles. The "wedge" ones didn't last like the old (real) Hemis did.
To be fair by 1964 Cadillac had their own copy of the Torqueflite. It was called the TurboHydramatic 400. They even paid royalties to Chrysler to use their patents.
"Imperial makes good use of the extra space by providing a lot more roominess" Very poor English, and i say that as a continental European. It should be something like "Imperial makes efficient use of the slightly larger dimensions by offering a lot more room inside"
I'm much more informed about my 1964 luxury car buying options now! I feel confident enough to make my purchase.
Imperial seems to be made with high quality parts!
1964 was the last year for the push button automatic transmission. I think this was the most beautiful car ever built in this country.
You ARE absolutely right.
I just got one and it’s the best decision I ever made. They’re reliable, luxurious, and underpriced to hell. Buy one please. I wanna see more on the roads.
My profile’s picture speak for itself.
johnny grace XD good!
along with the 1965 Chrysler New Yorker 6 window
I'm convinced. I'm going for a 1964 Imperial.
The 413 wedge motor in the imperial was a beast of an engine. That motor and the tourqueflite transmission, push button, we're bulletproof. The 64 imperial was my first car. I loved it. After that I loved the big land yacht's. Bought a 73' olds 98 after that with the 455 motor. The imperial was the better car
True...1964 was essentially the final year for the 1959 Cadillac styling series...Caddy was all new for 1965. I'm a GM guy, but if I was around back then and saw this video, I'd probably have bought the Imperial.
Haha...I tried that once in the back seat of my '66 Chrysler 300 convertible...but she said I was "gettin' fresh" and gave me one of her usual judo body flips!
I thought I was the only boomer to remember that article...I was 14 at the time and was fascinated by it. It was a seminal article that punched serious holes in the Rolls mystique at the time. '65 was a good year for Cadillac, and their redesign helped them win the comparo. I always felt bad for Chrysler...they never got the credit for their bomb-proof engineering. Showing my years: I equally rotate three daily drivers, all showroom perfect at all times: '88 420SEL Benz, 2001 and 2002 Jaguar Vanden Plas sedans. I have great mechanics that keep them running perfectly without destroying my bank account. New cars today have zero character. I'm constantly complemented on my rides. Thanks so much for a quick trip back to my youth Mr. Texas. God Bless!
'64 had the smallest fins. the '61 was cool with its large top and bottom fins.
The Imperial was a better engineered car. it's frame was so strong they were barred from the demolition derby! Styling was always unique and elegant. Imperial was for the man who didn't want the status quo Caddy
...didn't know that about the Demo Derby.
I do remember the early Audi models were banned from some off road races because they had an unfair advantage w/ AWD.
You should have used the pinto in the demo derby everybody would be too scared to hit you
They were banned from demolition derbies (64-66) because of the reinforced frames. They were tanks on wheels and could cut through other cars and kill drivers, plus, you couldn't damage them in return.
@@user-tq1tf6hh9w No wonder The Green Hornet , used it as his around the town car.
I am going down to my Chrysler-Imperial dealer today to take a look, if I can only find my hat...
Haha...great comment!!
your funny, a very very funny man. Seinfeld has nothing on you
It was compulsory to have a hat when you bought one , no hat no car .
JFK is credited with starting the trend of men not wearing a hat with a suit. By the early 1970s, only elderly men were wearing hats when dressed up, like my grandfather who was born in 1901.
Imperial has been dead for over forty years.
I remember when I was only 9 years old, a young boy growing up with a deep healthy love for American cars,trucks, motorcycles and most everything else. I remember my Dad coming home in Sept 63, with a brand new beautiful gold Lincoln 4dr. That was big and roomy with lots of chrome. But I also remember Dad having a lot of trouble with that car, three times he was forced to take Moms car to work and have the Lincoln towed back to the dealer, the third time it never came back! But Dad brought me with him to pick up a new car! An amazing 1964, Imperial Crown Coupe! In metallic aqua, with black top that had different type of vinyl than I’ve ever seen and the softest black leather bucket seats in front and huge back seat, that seemed bigger than the Lincoln? I remember there was enough room for me to lay down across the shelf under the rear window over the seats! But not in the Lincoln. That was Fads pride and joy, other than his growing family! I had a second sibling born the following year, but when Mom told Dad she was “expecting “ again, he was forced to trade his beloved Imperial in on a new 9 passenger wagon! Not just any wagon was gonna replace that Imperial! NO! dad special ordered a 1968 Chrysler Town&Country Beach Wagon! That I remember was loaded, very big, powerful with a 440/4 brl Dual Exhaust! That was gorgeous! In met maroon in an out with leather and “wood grained Siding”, lots of chrome! That was the car I learned to drive in and later on I live was my daily driver, as Dad kept that wagon for all 6 or us to learn how to drive! To this day I love big American vehicles! Especially pickups! New cars do nothing for me!
3:54, Imperial's bucket seats recline and Caddy's don't.
"Hey Dad, can I borrow the Imperial for prom?"
as a young teenager, my grandmother had a 63 imperial crown, fabulous car.
we had a 64 CADILLAC 4 door hard top. I loved both cars, and would love to have either one of them today!!
the 64 Lincolns and 64 imperials were designed by the same person, elwood engel, and were stylistically quite similar.
I miss the intelligent narration from this era of film.
Imperial was way nicer than the Cadillac or Lincoln.. and it always was... better looks better engineering
The 64 Imperial was a vast styling improvement over the 63 model. Caddy was still hanging on to dated fins. However, it was the 1961 Lincoln that set the new, cleaner trend in styling. Soon GM would abandon the inferior X-frame.
The narrator here is William Schallert.
A little extra coin during days away from the Patty Duke set?
I used to build alot of models when i was a kid like the Munster Coach and Coffin Dragster. Among them was this Imperial. I have no idea why this car appealed to me as a 7 year old kid but i'll never forget it.
The “pilot episode” of the early science fiction TV series, “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea,” featured a 1964 Imperial.
I love the Caddy, but I'll always go for the Imperial if given a choice.
Imperial and Lincoln were both head and shoulders above Cadillac. To have a full sized Imperial today would be an amazing thing.
Luckily Imperials are the least expensive of the three. You can get a decent driver for less than or around 10K. I’m thinking of getting a couple for myself.
I like Imperials, but a '64 Caddy convertible is gorgeous.
I learned to drive in my mom's 1960 Olds 98 convertible.
Decades later I found out it was the pace car at Indy that year.
3:55 This was one area the Chrysler Corp. cars used to ALWAYS do better than GM or Ford. Even on the lowest priced Plymouth, you got real GAUGES. This lasted into the 1990s! My GM loving sentiments would be toward Cadillac. And the Lincoln WAS beautiful (but small), But in retrospect, The reality IS that the Imperial WAS the best of the three in 1964.
at 1:15 they mention Imperial's "classic spare tire shape...." in its rear end styling.
Guess they couldn't call it the "Continental look," could they?
The entire car was the "Continental look"!
1964 Cadillac was one of my favorite years. Still love the styling. Cute little fins, graceful proportions.
The '59 and '60 look way better...
@@Thirdgen83 Not on your life! 64 has class, is elegant, timeless. The earlier model is 'high styled' outlandish.
@@patcurrie9888 You're full of shit.
@@Thirdgen83 Haha, hurt mech? Get over it.
@@patcurrie9888 There's nothing to get over. You're a moron.
I learned to drive in a 1964 IMPERIAL le Baron. It's regal unique design drew so much attention it seemed to confer immediate celebrity to the driver.
Of the top 3, Only Imperial was "bespoke". The Lincoln was a mildly stretched Thunderbird, And the Cadillac shared it's body with Buick and Oldsmobile. Imperial's body and Chassis were shared with NO other Chrysler product from 1960-1966. It was a "one-off", built in its own plant. Kind of the American Rolls-Royce. One can say, "it used the old 1957 body..." YEP. But in 1964 The Rolls Royce Silver Cloud was using a 1955 body! "Worse" the Rolls (in Cadillac/Buick fashion) shared it's body with Bentley. Imperial stood ALONE! 😲
I want a 64 imperial. not so much for the looks, but mostlybecause I know I'm inside a giant solid steel boat rolling down the street
On that point, a lot of the demolition derby sactioning body's BANNED Imperials as being so strong and crash resistant,, that they represented an unfair advantage in competition.!!!.......
the 1965 Caddy was a stunning styling move. Hard for imperial to beat the look of the 65 Fleetwood , Coupe DeVille and the Convertible
My Uncle George had a black LeBaron 1964
1964 Imperial is the most beautiful American car of the decade of 1960’s
Cadillac sold about 165,000 cars that year, while Imperial sold 23,000. I don't know why they never could come close to Lincoln's or Caddy's sales numbers.
I think it was brand perception. "Imperial" was never truly established as its own marque...people almost always thought of it as just a Chrysler...which competed with Oldsmobile/Buick at the high end of the "medium priced" field. Back then, the Cadillac or Lincoln names provided more prestige for the money.
That's right. Chrysler Corp was right in creating a luxury division, but they made the mistake of giving it a name that had already been used as a model name in the Chrysler division.
Cadillac built up an unbeatable sales lead in the forties and fifties when Pierce Arrow and other luxury makes were long gone, and Packard Lincoln and Chrysler had given up on the luxury market.
They did it through some extremely clever advertising and marketing aimed at making the average Joe (and Jane) think of owning a Cadillac as one of life's greatest achievements.
As one Cadillac executive put it "Our advertising is not aimed at selling cars. It is aimed at making Cadillac owners feel proud of their Cadillacs, and they sell the cars".
The fact that Cadillac was never the best car on the market had nothing to do with public perception.
Plus they did'n't have their own engines, except for '58, when Imperial kept the Hemi one year longer than Chrysler.
Paul Harris because they were junk.
Naturally it's a Chrysler film so they will try anything to downplay the Cadillac but the fact is, if you had a new Cadillac in your garage, nobody could ever claim they have something better. Nope.
Cool video. I always like to see the old marketing stuff. Cadillac changed the style the next year. I still like this style better than the Chrysler. The grill never did anything for me. I always like the Cadillac fins too.
Boss,we got an idea, a hemispherical type of combustion chamber design. For better volumetric air breathing with higher compression ratios. Room for bigger valves.
Yes I like it boys, green light, work close with the carb and intake dept. and run with it. If all goes as planned, the guys at Ford and G.M. will be playing catch up for years. We'll name her "Hemi".
Up until a couple of years ago, I had a black 1964 Imperial Crown convertible, a red 1964 Lincoln Continental convertible, and a white 1964 Cadillac Eldorado convertible. Hands down, the Imperial was the best of the three followed by the Lincoln. I put all three cars up on side by side hoists. What Chrysler did with that frame, and the number of cross bars welded into it, made it indestructible unlike the uni-body Cadillac and Lincoln. You ride in a Cadillac, you glide in a Lincoln, but you float in an Imperial. Oh, and those organizations that have members whose names end in vowels? The Imperial's trunk was far larger and could hold more bodies.
The heck with a Cadillac, I'm buying a 1964 Imperial!
And how! But you'll have to get in line behind me!
@@geoffreybradford you’ll have to fight me for position in line. 😂
i love the 60`s marketing. so silly.
Extra hat room? Consider me sold Jeeves. But wait, are there cigarette lighters in the rear ashtrays? Don't want my company to feel less than welcome when we pass around a pack of Luckies.
5:33
"...but of course you'll never know for sure, because you could never afford a Rolls-Royce!"
Did the ad' work?
I'm a Mopar Guy but in '64 the Caddy was the only way to fly... (Look up the sales numbers!)
Using sales figures is no recommendation of quality. There are more Toyota Camry's sold than 3 Series BMW's of a similar price, however I know I'd rather have the BMW. Moreover, because the Imperial is a far rarer car these days, it's also far more collectable, and it looks better than a comparable Caddy.
In Australia we never had Imperials. I think the quality in the coachwork was obvious and the suspension far better than Lincoln and Caddy as has been reported by independent sources. The Imperial was innovative and in my opinion was in the market at the height of the Big 3 US car makers. Now we have every car manufacturer in the world selling a product that is within reach of the average motorist therefore the American motor industry is in the situation it is in today and we have President Trump possibly as a result of that.
Sadly this had an impact in Australia as well where local manufacturing, Ford and GM ceased this year as well as Toyota.
Chrysler ceased local production in 1980.
Cars like the Imperial made a big design and engineering statement for around 20 years from the mid fifties. Nowadays we have wind tunnel tested, white Whitegoods cars that basically conform to the same shape, generally quite boring. Will probably not be looked on with such reverence in 40 to 50 years. Like we look on those early American land yachts of the mid-fifties 50s to 1970
obviously your not really a mopar guy . The IMP was twice the car . and when watching a demo derby its really obvious the imperial runs over the top of the caddy no problem .
Beautiful Imperial. It wasn't exactly all new as it was basically a 1957 w/a new body and interior. The windshield was from the 1957-63 model.
Well no shit you can't get front folding armrests on bucket seat models of Cadillac....
Haha...right? That was Chrysler's way of glossing over that they didn't offer bucket seats!
But the did offer buckets, with armrests. You can see them if you watch the film.
I'm still going for Cadillac!
Thanks but I still prefer the Cadillac.
Cadillac makes a nice little car for people who can't afford an Imperial.
Prices were similar, even overlapped according to how it was equipped.
ted marshall I own a 1988 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham. All Cadillac cars were is nothing more than a glorified Buick. The only Cadillac that had unique styling was the Eldorado. And that ended when the Eldorado started sharing body styles with the Olds Toranodo. Imperial up to 1973 was unique. It never shared any looks with Chrysler. That all changed with the 1974 Chrysler Imperial. Chrysler that year started showing financial trouble and could no longer justify making a car that unique. So the Imperial started sharing body styles with the Chrysler Newport and New Yorker.
'72 to '75 were the most beautiful imperials inside and out
The '64 Imperial redesign was really handsome but the windshield that interchanged with one from a '57 Plymouth gave the game away.
Yes, '57-'66 Imperials all shared the same cowl/firewall/widshield frame.
The '57-'63 Dodge Plym. Chry. were of the same basic shape, but smaller.
Who could possibly care, it was a classy design and that's all that matters.
"America's blue-chip car!" (1964)
1975:
Cadillac: Adds new, rectangular headlamps upfront and some new colors in and out.
Imperial: DEAD.
🐰 The End.
wrong cadilacs are junk like most gov motor products
@@bradhardy2629 Imperial died in 1974. No wishful thinking on your part can change that fact. And even today, FCA quality is far below GM, which is already really bad.
The best looking car ever...The 64 Imperial. But 9 MPG? Sure when gas was .45 cents a gallon. Imagine that weight at 2.79 gal.
I just filled - up for $1.25/gal at Kroger. Couldn't believe it.
@@2bitrasputin793 It's almost $4 a gallon here in Commiefornia 🖕
Once Virgil Exxnes was gone it was all over for Imperial. That 1957 to 63 was the great era...after that they lost their way as a corp until the muscle cars arrived in full in 1968....but thats another story......
Do you have the 1961 imperial comparison?
There are road tests from '57 and '58 here on RUclips featuring Chryslers vs. Ford and GM lines. Tom McCahill is in one of them.
The Imperial limo's of this era were nicer than Cadillac and Lincoln.
Amen. Nothing is above a Ghia Crown Imperial in luxury.
Too bad that Chrysler did not see the future of benefit of the Imperial in ensuring demo derby winnings. I'm sure if they did, they would have thrown that in there as well.
I always liked the design of these Engel-designed Imperials. However--it's not true that it's "all new". Not at all. Built on the '57 underbody, it's really noticeable by the height of the dash and the hood; it was tough for shorter drivers and most women.
What you say : this is the imperial of shoes
no when the peoples say for describe an elegant thing they say this is the cadillac of ......
Cadillac hasn't been known for elegance since the 1940s. It sold post-WWII on sheer excess. Nothing else. The reason why that slogan exists is because people like their cliches.
They don’t write songs that mention Imperials. They do for Cadillacs
Cadillac was king of rip off. Still doing the same thing today with the escalade. Nothing more than a gussied up Buick or Chevrolet. Chrysler/ Imperial always had much finer engineering by far.
Maybe so; but the buying public were general UNsophisticated...unable to perceive quality over ordinary.While the engineering and design of the Imperial was superior, they execution of workmanship.. left lots to be desired. When these Imperials became 40 - 50 years old, the water leaks into the body (especially the trunk and rear floor & under rear seat).. will drive an owner nuts. I know----I've had five of 'em.
I'd like to know what 50 year old car was made with rubber engineered so well that it doesnt leak after that much time.
True, my 1967 Mercedes 200D had a terrible leak into the trunk.
You know nothing about cars. Cadillac has almost always always engineered and built their own engine designs while Lincolns and Imperials used Ford and Chrysler engines, respectively, although at least in Lincoln's case they were built to the most precise specifications.
Come to think about it, you are right! Remember the Caddy Seville? It was a chevy Nova. Remember the Caddy Cimmeron? It was a Chevy Cavalier.
excelente, parabéns.
With exception to the Cadillac Eldorado up to 1965 all other Cadillac cars were nothing more than a glorified Buick and Oldsmobile. Eldorado lost it's unique look in 1966 when it started sharing body parts with Oldsmobile Toranodo. Imperial up to 1968 was totally and completely unique. Imperial shared no body parts with any car. That all changed in 1969 when Chrysler put all there cars under the fuesalage ( probably didn't spell that right ( design. 1969 Imperial looked like a glorified New Yorker and New Port
The presentation emphasizes that whatever the Cadillac does the Imperial can do better. The idea is to help the dealer sell the Imperial. The more Imperials he sells the more money he and the motor company will make. The Imperial is a large luxury car. Only the upper crust members of the community will buy the Imperial. The Imperial is very expensive. The price was near six thousand dollars. A sale will line the pockets of the seller handsomely.
You made some very obvious statements.. why?
Haha .... Well did you somehow think car-making was supposed to be a charitable enterprise??
@@Nunofurdambiznez Prior to the extreme individualism we are seeing now, products were sold on their tangible merits. “If you can find a better car, buy it,” Lee Iacocca chanted. Jingles suggested we could support a brand as an article of faith. Today experience and self affirmation are more important than something quantifiable. “How does the product make me feel?,” consumers now ask.
Of the three American luxury makes for 1964, Imperial was leagues ahead in performance, engineering, and overall styling. In this particular year between the three makes, I honestly do not know how Cadillac survived. Their design philosophy was still tethered to the finned, bloated, 1950's. 1963-64 Cadillacs were just aged, dated designs that looked terrible next to a lean Imperial or Lincoln. And I am an avid Cadillac enthusiast who's owned 6-7 Cadillacs in the past 50 years!
I love the way they spoke in the 1960's, announcers today sound nothing like this.
John L
yeah but it was mostly a function of the crappy microphones of the day.
they had to project thier speech or you wouldnt be able to hear them.
Same principles for public speaking even today.
1st rule is speak s l o w l y
and clearly
American announcers had these real 'classy' accents back in the '60s, almost British. They spoke with strength and authority, kind of like Cary Grant. "Well! Look at what we have here! A four door sedan for 1961."
This whole promo was dedicated to the jealous people at Chrysler. They built an inferior product trying to measure up to Cadillac. What a joke. Cadillac was killing everyone as the sales leader. Nothing could touch them. Imperial never stood a chance. Good Video to laugh at
High sales numbers doesn't make a quality car. You see many more Honda Civics on the road than BMW M series, but I guarantee you the BMW is more refined with much more careful assembly standards.
Imperial is a lovely car but I would choose the Cadillac.
This should have been a comparison to Cadillac 60 Special rather than a Sedan deVille. Cadillac probably would have fared better on the roominess measurements, maybe even exceeded Imperial’s in a couple of areas. I thought the statements regarding engineering were appropriate as that was always Chrysler’s strong point. That and their full instrumentation. But where Chrysler lacked (still do) was in the longevity of their electrical components. I say that as the owner of 3 1963 Cadillacs and 1 1973 Cadillac and 10 Chrysler products.
All that luxury,power and 8 mpg.
not in this day and age all three american companies like cadillac lincoln & chrysler are mid size now
An other and more important question? Why do you compare a simple Cadillac 1964 Seville Model, with a very expensive car as the 64 Imperial Crown Le Baron?
For the sake of fairness, the comparison should be between a Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special and the ugly 1964 Imperial car.
The Cadillac In the comparison was a de Ville and the Imperial was a Crown, comparable models. The Imperial le Baron was comparable to the Cadillac Sixty Special. I think that the 1964 Imperial is a very beautiful car.
I'd still buy the Caddy
love this video, love the Chrysler Imperial's of this era, I could never warm up to the Cadillac's of this era (I personally thought Cadillac would get better during the 1965-70 run).
Not a Chrysler
GM was the one who could get away with sharing one body with three brands.
Ironic that in 1964, "Imperial body is designed only for Imperial," unlike the Cadillac's shared body because Imperial shared its own body (plus an extra few inches on its front deck) with the other Chryslers by 1969 (through at least 1971).
Fairfaxcat Imperial had its own body and chassis until 1967. Before 1967, Imperial used a body-on-frame construction. In 1967, Imperial switched to the unit-construction design of all the other Chrysler cars.
I'll take the Caddy please.
Cadillac is better looking than this imperial.. but for 1964.. Lincoln continental is most beautiful..
No it isn’t.
Funny how they tried to claim that leafsprings are superior to coil springs...
But what if i want both Cadillac and Imperial
I have 2 1965 imperials, one 4-door and one 2-door. Heaviest cars made, thats why im gonna use them for demolition derby's. HAHA. Toughest car ever made. Period!
Rolls Royce and Bentley cars used for many years a Buick V8 engine, with some modifications made by RR. For many years, RR and Bentley paid licenses to General Motors for using the old and very durable Hydramatictic Drive, the very durable Jetaway, and the excellent Turbo Hydramatic 400, which Chrysler's fallacious advertising aims to look at less. Inside GM, they used Hydra Matic box and successors, the cars Cadillac, Oldsmobile and Pontiac. European subsidiaries of GM used it for years, in Opel Kapitân, Admiral and Diplomat; Vauxhal models Cresta and Velox. The best Mercedes Benz models, 300 D and 300 E from 1956 to 60 used Hydramatic (or Borg Warner to choice). Sherman tanks used Cadillac engines and Hydramatic transmission, practically unchanged.
Several prestigious American car brands, now missing, used for years the old Hydra Matic and Jetaway (Hudson, even the mighty HornetTwin H from 1951 to 55, Nash in all models, including the powerful Ambassador, Kaiser in his best model, The Manhatan).
Outside the little-known, ugly and siutical Facel Vega HK-500 from 1961 with Chrysler Typhon 383 engine and Torque Flight 727 box, has any other American or European vehicle used Chrysler engines or automatic transmissions? Not that I know. If I am in error, please correct me.
Who do you think this should be?
The Jensen Interceptor immediately comes to mind. As well as the Monteverdi cars from Austria.
Imperial ha 12% more trunk space and 80% lower sales figures than Cadillac for 1964. That tells you all you need to know.
Cadillac vs the tank
Let’s not forget imperial and Lincoln together could not even come close to Cadillac’s sales.
BONE IN THE PASSENGER SEAT
I own a 61 Lebaron 64 Lebaron and a 67 crown , all much better then any gm or ford product
This is funny, the guy talks about Cadillac has similar body parts as Buick and other GM cars but later Chrysler will make an Imperial out of the disposable car they call the K car , the K car was a car that they made there cheapest and lowest quality car from and also added crap to and called it an Imperial. The K car was truly disposable.
In the 1960s, nobody at Chrysler was even pondering the idea of the K-car. Imperial was still a quality car at that point.
Your car payed dividends back then, you actually made more money than you paid, the blue chip way.
Caddillac's styling was dated compared to Imperial and Lincoln.
+MrBreeze The Imperial may have a new styling for 64, but it was riding on the 1957 platform. Besides that would be the last year for that Cadillac style. There would be an all new Cadillac for 1965.
Dam good automobile's, I've had many cars like that in my life. Chrysler automobiles I mean.
Fun fact! They put the gear lever on the column but it was still activated by cable in the 1965 models! Like the push button.
Well since the Imperial no longer exists (like a lot of Chrysler products), I suppose Cadillac wins. Good old Chrysler...always changing things up in an unstable manner in order to introduce something to discontinue three years later. I speak out of frustration because I like Chrysler.
Some of those Virgil Exner DeSotos from '55-'61were the most beautiful cars of their time.
(take it from Groucho!)
exner had a heart attack in 1955 when he realized the front end of the '55 dodge looked like his aunt, who had flaring nostrils and a unibrow
HaHa, funny, but Exner was just getting warmed up in '55.
And you gotta admit, the original Chrysler 300 was a clean-lined classic.
Imperial sounds good, but, Caddies are still around.
Still rather have the Caddy.
Cool video but I think GM won that battle... I like Chrysler,,,
they copied Lincoln Continental down to the rear tire hud.
Not surprising, as the guy in charge of Chrysler's styling was hired away from Ford. In other words he did both the Continental and Imperial one after the other.
My least favourite style, of a '60s Cadillac; sorry, "Tony!" It's okay; '65 is my favourite, of all-time!(so, they bounced, right, back, ya see!)
Compare a top of the line Imperial against a Sedan Deville. They would try anything back then. Compare against a Fleetwood idiots. Apples to Apples
Lol this video is real joke
+azimmey wrong! This Imperial was the Crown model, not the top of the line model. The top line was the LeBaron, which would be comparable to the Fleetwood.
+azimmey Like it would matter? The Mopar 413 was a superior powerplant. The Torqueflite was a vasty, vastly superior transmission and the Torsion bar suspension easily bested Caddy. Looks are subjective, the former were not...
Maybe so; but all the 413s and 440s that I owned... became "oil-burners" after 125,000 miles. The "wedge" ones didn't last like the old (real) Hemis did.
To be fair by 1964 Cadillac had their own copy of the Torqueflite. It was called the TurboHydramatic 400. They even paid royalties to Chrysler to use their patents.
Cadillac looks better
I thoroughly disagree.
Only Cadillac!
"No fear of crushing your hat in Imperial." Some possibility of crushing your head in a rollover, however.
Lol Fleetwood was way bigger than the imperial and a lot more powerful.
imperial before 1967 was the last decent car chrysler made .beginning 1967 .unitized junk.
lol deceptive marketing for the win. when showing rear seat legroom they had the front seat all the way forward
All the companies salesman's videos did the same sorta things like that.
"Imperial makes good use of the extra space by providing a lot more roominess"
Very poor English, and i say that as a continental European.
It should be something like "Imperial makes efficient use of the slightly larger dimensions by offering a lot more room inside"